An exceptional year, an incredible result: the internationally renowned jury of the 2020 AZ Awards has selected the very best from the 1,241 architecture and design entries we received – the highest number of submissions to date – from 47 countries around the world. The 68 finalists in 20 categories exemplify excellence in innovation, aesthetics, creativity and social and environmental responsibility.

In 2020, the annual AZ Awards marks a major milestone – its 10th edition, coinciding with Azure magazine’s 35^th anniversary – while entering the new normal. Our jury members Luca Nichetto, Stephanie Davidson, Omar Gandhi, Mia Lehrer and Marion Weiss were asked to weigh in from their homes in Stockholm, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York as we convened our first-ever remote deliberation process.

We have since released new dates for future AZ Awards-related announcements. Both the finalists and the winners will be feted at the AZ Awards Gala – now taking place on September 18 – and will also be published in the AZ Awards Annual (now Azure’s October issue), which will hit newsstands at the end of September. This special issue will be packed with the best in furniture, lighting, architecture, interiors and landscapes from around the world.

Stay tuned for the opening of the People’s Choice portal, set to go live on May 14, where you can cast your votes for your favourite finalists.

S-AR: Casa Cosmos, Oaxaca, Mexico

BAAQ’: Casa Naila, Oaxaca, Mexico

Ian Moore Architects: Redfern Warehouse, Sydney, Australia

Jun Sang You / AtelierJun: The Boulder House, Seoul, South Korea

D’Arcy Jones Architects: Double Header House, Victoria, BC, Canada

Mork Ulnes Architects: Skigard Hytte, Kvitfjell, Norway

L. McComber: Off Plaza, Montréal, Canada

Summary: VDC, Vale de Cambra, Portugal

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office: Art Center, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, China

Lacime Architects: MOMA Lotus Resort, Chizhou City, Anhui Province, China

LAN: Minimum-Security Area and Penitentiary Services for Integration and Probation, Nanterre, France

Zaha Hadid Architects: Leeza SOHO, Beijing, China

Oppenheim Architecture: Ayla Clubhouse & Golf Academy, Aqaba, Jordan

SUP Atelier: Indoor Playground (Doubling as Lecture Hall) of a Middle School, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, China

Gh3*: Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool, Edmonton, Canada

OV-A: Glass House for Lasvit, Nový Bor, Czech Republic

Atelier tao+c: Capsule Hotel in a Rural Library, Tonglu, Zhejiang Province, China

Valerio Dewalt Train: Gordon Parks Arts Hall, Chicago, U.S.

Coarchitecture | Atelier In Situ | Jacques Plante Architecte: Diamant Theater | Engraved in the Memory, Québec City, Canada

MAD Architects: Hutong Bubble 218, Beijing, China

Appareil Architecture: Le Dernier Petit Cochon, Les Jardins de Métis, Quebec, Canada

Studio Roosegaarde: Presence, Groninger Museum, Groningen, the Netherlands

DWA Design Studio: Caffè Populaire (for Lambert & Fils), Milan, Italy

decaArchitecture: Voronoi’s Corrals, Milos, Greece

Turenscape: Turning A Festering Scar into A Living Passage: Suzhou Zhenshan Park, Jiangsu Province, China

Effekt Architects: Forest Tower, Rønnede, Denmark

AKB Architects: Lytton Park Residence, Toronto, Canada

Aspa: Apartment in Santa Catarina, Lisbon, Portugal

Johnson Chou: Shadow Box, Toronto, Canada

Atelier Alter Architects: No.5 Warehouse Museum of Fossil, Xiamen, China

Manea Kella: Casa Popeea Boutique Hotel, Brăila, Romania

Rockwell Group: Cedric’s at The Shed, New York City, U.S.

Esrawe Studio: Japanese Restaurant, Mexico City, Mexico

Vermilion Zhou Design Group: Green Massage, Shanghai, China

Nienkamper: Heartbeat by Karim Rashid

IBEBI: Tam Tam in collaboration with Studio Arter&Citton

Molteni & C: Surf Sofa by Yabu Pushelberg

Eric Haskins Design: Rammed Earth Chair

Fantoni: Atelier, designed in collaboration with Gensler

GAN: LAN Seating Collection by Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu

Reform: Match by Muller Van Severen

Valcucine: Logica Celata by Gabriele Centazzo

Lambert & Fils: Sainte Collection in collaboration with Rachel Bussin

Vibia: Tube by Ichiro Iwasaki

Flos: Noctambule by Konstantin Grcic

Licht Kunst Licht: National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar

Stacklab | Project: Temporary Lighting Installation | stackt market

Tarkett North America: Tatami System

Tarkett North America: iD Mixonomi

Rimadesio: Modulor by Giuseppe Bavuso

Carnegie: Xorel Knit

Coalesse: Nanimarquina Collection for Coalesse

Pair: Toast by Studio Hopkins

Lemay: Bellechasse Transport Centre

Moriyama & Teshima Architects: Honey Bee Research Centre

OSD Outside: Farm to City

Effekt Architects: The Urban Village Project

Shawn Dylan Johnston and Siqi Wang (Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, University of Toronto): Horizontal

Caroline Cox and Austin Corriher (North Carolina State University): KEF International Airport

Students of Islamic Azad University of Najafabad (Prof. Hossein Moradi): Kooshk Pavilion

Connery Friesen (University of Manitoba): Re-Animating the Ruin

Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects: MLK1101 Supportive Housing, Los Angeles, U.S.

La SHED Architecture: A Modern Barn : Au Gré des Champs, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec, Canada

WHITEKNEE | Aaron Brakke: Zig Zag Park, Bogota, Colombia

Studio Lotus: Krushi Bhawan, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha

Gh3*: Borden Park Natural Swimming Pool, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

KPMB Architects / Stantec Architecture, Architects in Association: Isttaniokaksini / Science Commons at University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Dorte Mandrup: Wadden Sea Centre, Vester Vedsted, Ribe, Denmark

The 2020 AZ Awards is presented by JennAir, Keilhauer and Landscape Forms and sponsored by Cosentino and Great Gulf.

The 2020 AZ Awards Gala sponsors are George Brown School of Design, Improve and Scavolini.

The 2020 AZ Awards Gala Partners are Frontier and Stratus.

Media Partners: Archello, Archiexpo, Archilovers, Archinect, Archiproducts, Architect@Work, The Architect’s Newspaper, Architonic, Bustler, Design Week Mexico, Interior Designers of Canada, INDEX Design, Kollectif, v2com newswire and World-Architects.